Tinsel, Santa Hat, and a Bomb
by prettybirdy979
Summary: ...Tinsel, Santa Hat, and a Bomb. Writen for NFA SeSa 2009


**Disclaimer: I don't own nothing..**

**Author's Note: Not a new story, but an old one, dug up from last year. I wrote it for a Serect Santa on NFA and never quite managed to post it anywhere else... So here it is...**

**Much more interesting then study. =)**

* * *

There it sat.  
It didn't look dangerous. In fact, with its' current decorations, if Tim hadn't known exactly what it was he wouldn't have given it a second glance. Well, if there had been something else in the room to look at he wouldn't have given it a second glance.  
After all, who put tinsel and a Santa hat on a bomb? His capturer must have a sense of humour worthy of Tony...  
He stopped that train of thought in its tracks, unwilling to think of the man, whose thoughtless comment had lead to this situation.

Would his team even notice his absence? And if they did, how on earth would they find him?

Hopelessly, Tim watched the timer on the bomb tick down towards its final numbers.

Anthony 'Tony' DiNozzo was sore, tired and weirdly hungry. He just wanted to go home, eat and fall into bed. He had spent the last two weeks finding and observing a local gang who had thought it was a smart idea to kill a naval officer. Finally, the team had been given the go ahead to arrest their prime suspects.

And they had. The arrests had been by the book. Tony had therefore anticipated that they would be allowed to go home.

Then one suspect had escaped. So now he was sitting at his desk trying to figure out where he had gone. With no success.

'Where is McGee?' Ziva suddenly asked from her position in her desk across the squad room. Both she and Tony had been unable to finish their paperwork and go home before the suspect had escaped. However Tim had. 'I know he went home, but he should have gotten our messages by now.'

'Don't worry. He's probably so wrapped up in his computer game that he can't hear his phone ringing.' Tony said, his casual tone barely covering the worry he felt for his team member. He had spoken to convince Ziva but realised as he spoke that he was trying to convince himself too.

'Where's McGee, DiNozzo?' Gibbs asked as he strolled back into the squad room.

'Not sure, Boss. We haven't been able to reach him.'

Gibbs rose from the seat he had just sat in. 'Did you…'

Tony interrupted, correctly guessing what Gibbs was going to ask. 'We were careful, Boss. I didn't say anything that could lead them to McGee.' He seemed slightly hurt that Gibbs thought that little of him.

Gibbs just sat back down as the images of the three agents that had died trying to get this gang flashed though his mind. They were so dangerous and so deadly that the team had had to use code names of sorts while arresting them in hopes of hiding their identities. While Tim and Tony had simply used their first names as their code names, everyone had had to suppress laughter when using Gibbs' codename of 'Jake' and Ziva's code name of 'Lisa'. But if it kept his team safe, Gibbs was willing to endure it.

Just then, the phone on Tim's desk rang. It startled the team, with everyone looking at it in confusion. Finally, Tony had the sense to pick the phone up and answer the call.

'Hello?' he asked.

A woman's upset voice came back at him. It was familiar to him, but he couldn't quite place where he had heard it before. 'Timothy? Is that you?'

'No, this is Special Agent DiNozzo. Can I take a message?'

'Agent Tommy…Tony.' Suddenly Tony realised where he had heard that voice before. Although her name escaped him, he knew this was Tim's publisher. 'Can you tell Timothy that someone broke into my office. They were after his personal files.'

'Personal files?'

'The files I have with his personal details, not his manuscript. Which is rather odd…'

'Thank you.' Tony cut her off. 'I'll pass the message along. By the way, did you get a look at the man who did it?'

'Yes. He was a tall man, with blue eyes and brown hair. Had a tattoo on his arm, a spider web. Why do you ask?'

'No reason.' Tony hung the phone up. The man Tim's publisher had described was the escaped suspect, a Billy Clarkes.

'Who was that DiNozzo?'

'McGee's publisher. Her office was broken into by a man matching Clarkes description.' Tony said absently. In his mind, he was running though every moment of the arrests, wondering when he had screwed up. After all, Tim had been his partner when they had done it.

'What did he take?' Gibbs asked. When Tony didn't reply, he growled. 'Hey! What did he steal?'

'Personal files. Boss, he knows where McGee lives.' Even as Tony said it, images of what happened to agents who crossed this gang flashed though their minds. Confused, he once again reviewed every statement he had made during the arrest. _Where did I screw up?_ He thought. Then a statement floated out of his memory. '_Don't give up the day job, McGemcity.'_ That was how they had found Tim. It was all his fault!

Gibbs made a snap decision. He ignored the guilty look spreading over his Senior Field Agents face and grabbed his gun from its draw, noticing Tony and Ziva copying his movements. Full of determination, he headed for Tim's apartment.

When they arrived at Tim's apartment, they were surprised to find the door was still locked. Quietly, Ziva picked the lock while Tony and Gibbs prepared for what they would find. Signally for their entry, Ziva opened the door.

They barged into the room, yelling 'Federal Agents!' at the top of their voices. However, instead of the messy, possibly bloody crime scene they excepted, they found the room to be clean.

Completely clean. There was nothing left in the room, everything having been removed. None of Tim's personal items were there, not even his beloved computer or typewriter. Confused, they continued towards Tim's bedroom.

Tony was the first to reach the door. Raising his hand he counted down from three. As soon as his hand dropped on three, Gibbs kicked the door in.

At the loud bang of his bedroom door, Tim raised his head. He was terrified that it was his captor, come for more torture.

He was very surprised to see Gibbs standing in the doorway. Tony and Ziva froze, unused to seeing this particular team member in danger. Tim was tied to a chair, bond at his wrists and ankles. But that was not what shocked his team.

The blood on his face and all over his body led to only one conclusion. Tim had been beaten. Shocked, Ziva took one small step towards him as Gibbs did the same.

'McGee!' Gibbs cried. His mouth gagged, Tim was unable to respond or to warn Gibbs about the bomb. Instead, his had to look Gibbs in the eye, then flick his glaze to the bomb and back again.

Lucky, Gibbs caught on quickly. Looking over to Tim's right, he saw the festive bomb.

'Ziva! Can you disarm that?' he diverted Ziva's attention from staring at Tim, to the bomb.

She examined it, then pulled a few wires. Tony flinched. 'Ziva!'

'What? I had disarmed it.'

'That's it…bit anticlimactic if you ask me. Aren't you supposed to have like only five seconds left on the timer or something?'

Gibbs interrupted their argument. 'DiNozzo! Call an ambulance, and Ducky. Tell him to meet us at Bethesda. Ziva, go get a BOLO out on Clarkes.' Then he slowly moved to be kneeling beside Tim. 'You okay, McGee?'

'Other then my head hurting, yes Boss, I'm fine.' Gibbs began to slowly remove the bindings around Tim's hands and feet that had kept him tied to the chair. Even Gibbs could hide his gasp at the marks where the binds had been. They had been far too tight and had dug deeply into the skin. So deeply, that after a few seconds, Gibbs just grabbed his knife and cut the bindings close to the chair.

'Boss? The ambulance is on its way.' Tony said taking a step towards Tim. At the sound of Tony's voice, Tim looked up and met Tony's eyes. Tony took a step back at the amount of anger in Tim's eyes. He knew that Tony was the reason he was here.

The arrival of the ambulance ended the silent conversation.

Tony was lost. It had been two days since they had rescued Tim and he still wouldn't see Tony. At first, Tony hadn't noticed as he had been busy tracking down Clarkes. But with Clarkes safely in the NCIS interrogation room, Tony had tried to visit Tim. Only to be told he wasn't allowed in.

This above everything told Tony that Tim was really mad at him. Tim was well known for his patient, forgiving nature and not for holding grudges.

_I need to talk to him. _Tony thought staring at the waiting room wall for Gibbs. _But how to get in…_

Tim sighed, staring at the roof of his room. For some reason sleep just wasn't coming to him. Sighing again, Tim closed his eyes again, hoping to get some sleep.

Only to open them again when the door to his room opened. Looking over, he expected to see a nurse or his doctor.

Not Tony wearing a white coat and trying to look like he was supposed to be here.

'McGee. I…'

'I don't want to hear it DiNozzo.' Tim began feeling around for the call button with the intention of getting Tony removed.

Tony saw this and grabbed his hand before he could find it. 'Look, McGee…Tim. I stuffed up. I know I stuffed up…'

'Stuffed up? That's one way to put it.'

'I'm sorry Tim! It was just a stupid comment; I don't even know why I said it.'

'Just a stupid comment. You know how many of those you say a day! You're always belittling me and torturing me! And now, one of those 'stupid comments' has nearly killed me and now you're 'sorry'! Well Tony, it's too little, too late.'

Tim turned his head, unwilling to look Tony in the face. But Tony could hear something under the anger in Tim's voice, a fear he couldn't explain. He knew Tim didn't get this angry on his own behalf.

'Tim…'

Tim turned back, clearly about to deliver another rant. Tony cut him off. 'What's wrong?'

Tim looked thrown for a bit. 'Why do you ask? You don't care.'

'Of course I care! Tim, I may hide it behind teasing and torturing you but…you're like a brother to me.' Tim looked directly into Tony's eyes at that. Tony continued 'I do care.' He repeated trying to convince Tim. 'So what is wrong Tim?'

'It was so close.' Tim whispered. Tony smiled internally. He had gotten though to Tim.

'What was?'

'Sarah. She was at my apartment just before he came. She almost…' Tim closed his eyes and looked away.

Tony quickly and subconsciously put his arm on Tim's shoulder. 'It'll be okay Tim. She's fine.'

'I know…But she could have been…'

'Tim. We can't think about the 'could haves' or 'what ifs'. It'll drive you nuts. You just have to focus on the present.'

Tim looked at Tony a little shocked. 'When did you get so wise?'

Tony looked outraged. 'What and I'm not normally wise?'

Tim just laughed, and after a moment, Tony joined in.

That was how Gibbs found them in the morning, joking and laughing, sure that they were friends.


End file.
